A certain aspect of the embodiments discussed herein is related to a power supply device for supplying electric power supplied from an external power supply to electronic apparatuses such as a personal computer (PC), a server, and a monitor.
For example, referring to FIG. 1, the power supply device may include power supply units 21 to 2n (n is an arbitrary integer) which are supplied with power by an external power supply 1, and a personal computer (PC) 6 for remote control which is connected to the external power supply 1 via a hub 3, a communication line 4 such as the Internet, and a hub 5.
Local area network (LAN) cables connect the power supply units 21 to 2n and the hub 5 and the PC 6.
The power supply units 21 to 2n include plural ports 7 which distribute power supplied from the external power supply 1. The electronic apparatuses such as a PC, a server and a monitor are connected to the ports 7. The power supply units 21 to 2n include built-in relays such as an electric relay which can connect and disconnect the ports 7 and the external power supply 1.
When an operator inputs to the PC 6 to select one of the power supply units 21 to 2n and one of its ports 7, a control command corresponding to the input is input to the selected power supply unit among the power supply units 21 to 2n through the PC 6 and the communication line 4. Thus, the electric relay inside the power supply unit is connected to the port 7 identified by the control command. Then, power is supplied from the port 7 to the electronic apparatus 8 such as the PC, the server and the monitor as described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2-272954, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2-183693 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2-096444.